


In The Shadows

by Bitter-Bittle (Nerdanarchy)



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M, M/M, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-01 03:47:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12147957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdanarchy/pseuds/Bitter-Bittle
Summary: A OMGCheckPlease au. Derek Nurse is sent to join the Wild Hunt in hope he'll adopt his true nature. William Pointdexter joins the hunt to find himself but perhaps he'll find something greater. A story of Friendships and lives lived and lost.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This au is based in the faerie realm most similar to that of celtic tales but with some influence from the Slavic tales as well.  
> It follows three separate groups. The Unseelie court:(the autumn/winter fae) known as malevolent and tending towards a darker more cruel,cold nature. The Seelie:(the spring/summer court) closer to the typical view of faeries. Mischievous but also more equal on the plane of good vs. evil nature and tend to be viewed as the sweeter of the two. And lastly The Wild Hunt:A faction that is outside the control of both seelie and unseelie. They are compromised of both dead and living as well as mortal,fae, and other creatures.The Wild Hunt rides at night across the skies or along the ground, in mad pursuit of an eternal hunt. They anticipate battles and lie in wait until it's all over, after which they come to gather the dead, though at times they choose join in on the battles. From these dying men, they claim some to either serve them or join them in their hunts. 
> 
> (I'll elaborate on more features of the courts and realms as I move on in the story but if you have questions feel free to ask away here or on my tumblr)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introduction of the realm and background

**Character Introductions**

-Derek Nurse is the son of the unseelie king and a seelie fae. Because of who his mother is he’s low ranking in the line of procession. 

-Derek is a sore spot for the king, his son displaying none of the characteristics of an unseelie fae and a nonchalant behavior. 

\- Dex is a changeling who was traded for his “parents” son.(Based on the celtic version where many children were traded to be raised and then returned when they came of age if the parents didn't belong to courts that had human midwife's to nurse the fae children) With so many siblings the parents thought it didn’t matter if their son was a fae or not as long as he could help out around the house. When Dex finds out about his origin he decided he needs to connect with his true nature and find a place where he feels at home. 

-Derek’s father decides that if the Wild Hunt can’t straighten Derek out than nothing will but at least it’ll get him out of his way and Derek just so happens to begin to flourish in the freedom of it.

-Dex is stumbling along trying to find himself and his home, traveling and consulting experts when he is told to search out the Wild Hunt. 

-That’s where Dex meets Derek the unfazed prince-ling that is vicious on the battlefield and seems to radiate with the freedom around him.

-That’s where Derek meets Dex the changeling who seems to know next to nothing of the faerie realm and no concern for Nurse’s title. The boy who burns with the rage of a thousand fires on and off the battlefield.

\- Jack Zimmermann is the pride and joy of the unseelie court. Son of the King’s favourite knight Jack was destined to follow in similar footsteps but he chose to join the Wild Hunt instead after a incident(not gonna give anymore cause its a side story) 

\- Eric Bittle is the sweet natured son of the Seelie Queen and a seelie knight. He was given to the Wild Hunt by his mother in order to appease conflict in the court. Eric is deeply disheartened to join the Wild Hunt at first but warms up after a while.

\- Shitty is a mortal who wished to join the Wild Hunt in order to escape his mortal life and just happens to be desperately in love with the Seelie Representative who is in charge of managing the relationship between the hunt and the seelie court.

-Lardo is the seelie Representative and bittle’s half- sister whom of which she is extremely close too. Lardo is feared by the Hunt for her ruthless skills in a fight and admired for her cunning wit.

-Ransom is an elf who joined the hunt to escape his families expectations of him becoming a healer for the seelie court.

-Holster is the boisterous outcast son of a Seelie princess and a Dybbuk(A Jewish spirit that can posses people). Holster joined the hunt because it was the only place where he was accepted and admired for who he was rather than his parents. 

-Chowder: A selkie who is half water fae. His pelt was stolen by his fae father when he was young to ensure he wouldn't leave like his mother had.Chowder joined the hunt because it was as close to the freedom of the ocean as he could get. 

-Kent is the head knight of the Seelie court having been born of a mortal father and a court-less mother. He came to the faerie realm when his father died and sided with the seelie court shortly after the incident in the Unseelie court.

\- The falconers are all knights of the Unseelie court.

\- The aces are all knights of the seelie court.

 

I'm currently working on part one which will be a bit of Derek back story and how exactly he ends up in the hunt. As well it will introduce almost everyone.


	2. Beware the Sound of the Hunting Horn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek's backstory

          Derek was born on the first day of spring unlike any other Unseelie before him had. The court attributed it to the fact that his mother was a seelie, after all that was there excuse for everything Derek did. His mother had been breathtaking as a sunrise, like she belonged to the spring and the brightness of it. She had made the mistake to love the darkness of the seelie court, to fall in love with the mystery and freedom of the unseelie. She was curious and she loved as many a seelie do, with kindness and adoration in their eyes. She fell for the wrong man, a ruthless king, whom looked only to use the adoration in her eyes and when she bore him a son he pushed her from the court. She returned to the seelie court as a disgrace and outcast and she faced the consequence for betraying her court.

       Derek took after his mother in most aspects. From his amber skin and his fascination with the idea of the perfect love story. But just as so he gained his ruthless concentration in battle, and words that dripped as sweet as honey all from his father.

        To say life in the court as a princeling was easy would be nothing short of a lie and any sensible man would know the fae can’t lie. Life in the court is a life under constant scrutiny, always proving that he was “Unseelie enough” and that he wasn’t too soft. Derek’s uncanny similarities to his mother only served to hinder him,as if a curse put on him so that he too may suffer for the mistakes she once made. Derek would never admit that he disagreed with the morals of his father’s court but he couldn’t help but think that they were cruel and amoral rules and breed nothing but chaos and destruction. Derek did his best to be the prince his father wanted but it isn’t easy being the favourite son when he has plenty of ruthless half-brothers who were born fighting.

         Derek came to the realization one day he’d never gain his father’s approval and he’d never find himself on the throne so why shouldn’t he cut the charades and let himself be free. From there Derek found himself in front of a very disappointed and irritated King and a fuming half-brother spewing with threats. Derek wasn’t sure how he’d got here. One moment he was writing prose under the shade of a hemlock and the next he was standing over the body of an unseelie knight his hands drenched in white blood.In a matter of blurred moments Derek had become those he had despised the most. He had killed one of his own without a second thought and worst of all he couldn’t find any remorse within himself. It was like something inside him had snapped, a rage unmatched and methodical had overcome him.He had taken down a skilled member of the king’s guard in one blow. Derek still wasn’t sure what exactly had triggered him but all he knew was he’d never felt so powerful and powerless in his life. Now he was faced with a choice does he accept the consequences of his actions and hope that somewhere in the cold depths of his father’s soul there was mercy.

                “My King, I” Derek attempted but was silenced by his father’s stony glare.

          "Enough Derek! I don’t yearn for your excuses. I know not what darkness has passed upon you today but I do know this is not of your nature my son so I will offer you one chance at redemption. You shall join The Wild Hunt and be under the command of Gwyn Ap Nudd. If you serve him well for the duration of the service he seems fit you may find mercy in your return to the court but if not you will face the blade of your actions.”

          Derek gulped. The wild hunt was renowned for their brutality, a faction of warriors bound to the stars, always in pursuit of the hunt and a new battle.

            “Of course, my King. Thank you for your great mercy. I will prove myself deserving of your kindness,” what else could he do other than accept.

            “ Ap Nudd will be here shortly to collect you. May you find peace with the hunt my son.”

      Derek resigned to his chambers numbly, the question of just how could he survive the coming times burning in the back of his mind. The stories and tales of the Wild Hunt were known far and wide and by all of the fair folk. No man was feared and revered more than the Hunt’s notorious leader Gwyn Ap Nudd. A man’s who reputation as ruthless seemed so wrong for the undying loyalty of his hunters.


	3. Do you hear the calling of your people?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will's backstory. It is shorter than Derek's for there was less to set up setting wise and as the people in his past are quite unimportant.

         Will never really liked the idea of parents especially when it came to how the world sees you. Maybe this was due to the feeling he had of never fitting in with his family or his inkling that his “parents” weren’t his real parents. And if that were true that would mean that Will himself is just as much a mystery as the identity of his parents and well the ones who took care of him weren’t much of parents.

              Will had never looked like them and perhaps that’s why he knew long before they told him that he wasn’t their own. Will always felt left out in a family of pitch black hair, tan skin, and short stature. He was a tall and lanky fellow, with an almost sickly pale skin if not for the freckles covering him head to two. His eyes, a peculiar orange that matched his hair perfectly. The irony of his look is it represented just how far separate he was from his family. While his siblings relished in the riches of prominent wealthy parents he lived as if he were the son of a poor family stuck with hand be downs and thrifted goods.

               So when they sat him down the night of his 18th birthday to tell him the truth of his birth it was not surprise that he was not of their blood. But nothing could have prepared him for the brutal truth of the matter.

          “ William, there’s no easy way to you this but you aren’t our son” “ We woke one day and you were in the crib in place of our son. We couldn’t just abandon a child so we raised you.”

              “Someone came forward said they knew who our son was and that they’d return him to us if you would go to meet them.They said they knew your parents.”

           Those words were drowning Will as he laid on the roof of the townhouse gazing at the stars. They were just going to hand him over to this stranger. His parents got rid of him when he was only a child why would they want him now.

                 “What kind of person switches their child for another?” Will whispered to himself. “The Fae” a silvery voice responded behind him.

               Will flipped around to see a tall man with an intimidating stature, dressed in what appeared to be ancient armour made of leather, cloth, and fur.

             “Gwyn Ap Nudd, King of the Anwnn and leader of the Wild Hunt at your service” the man bowed in an exaggerated fashion, a smirk slightly hidden by the strand of hair the had fallen in his face. Will looked him in shock not sure whether he should run or talk to this mysterious man.

      Gwyn grinned at him,” You don’t know how delightful it is we’ve found you first. You see your adoptive parents failed to tell you the full truth of your identity. Are you familiar with celtic myths, specifically those of the fair folk?”

                 Will cautiously stepped closer to Gwyn, “Yes, I’m familiar with the fair folk.”

               “Grand, you see William your real parents are of the fair folk. You are a changeling. Your parents were not of a court and so they had to give you up because they had no human midwife. I am quite surprised the courts have not found you yet and persuaded you to join them. But 'tis quite lucky for me they have not found you yet. Come join me.You will not have to join a side and you will be safe from the cruel strangers your guardians wish to give you away to. With the hunt you may find eternal freedom and a family.” Gwyn offered Will a hand, a simple gesture that if accepted would bind him to the hunt for all eternity. Will gripped Gwyn’s hand firmly for he had nothing worth staying for and nothing to lose.


	4. Coming Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a really short chapter and it took me forever to write this so i'm apologizing now and I promise the next chapter will be longer.

" Come William, I shall introduce you to your new family." Gwyn reaches out for Will's hand. Will reluctantly accepts as he is pulled off the roof and into the mid air.  
As they came to a stop on the ground Will took in the surroundings, all around him were men on horse back.   
"Hunters, This is our newest recruit William Pointdexter. I think it would be best if you would introduce yourselves before you begin your usual antics."   
A tall dark man steps forward, " Yes, Sir. The name's Jack. I'm Gwyn's second in command." He points to the extremely tall blonde astride a pure black stallion, "That's Holster and the man on the white mare next to Holster is Ransom.” Jack shifts over to where 2 men and a women were bunched together. “ The man with the fabulous mustache is Shitty,next to him is Prince Bittle, and then next to him is Lardo. She is a seelie representative who’s job is to make sure her half brother the Prince is taken care of.” He moves over two the last two men. “ Finally we have our newest additions Prince Derek of the unseelie court and the ever bubbly Chowder.” Will paused to take it in, these men were like nothing he’d ever seen before. They were all so different yet all so in touch with the world around them. There were vines and flowers entwined with their clothes and braided in their horses mane’s. There was a wild, free nature to these men. Like nothing could hold them back. Shitty jumped down from his stead. “William, Will, Dex, Welcome to the hunt. We’re glad to have you. First some advice. There’s three rules to the hunt. One don’t be a douche, no one likes a douche. Second we’re a family bound by an eternal mission so we stick together bro. Lastly no man rides alone except Gwyn so find yourself a partner or form a trio.” Gwyn claps his hand on Shitty’s shoulder, throwing his head back in a laugh,”Thank you Shitty.”   
He pauses and then continues, “ Alright boys mount up and team up were heading back to the fae realm to get the new additions acustom with our ways and our stories.”

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is Bitter-Bittle if you want to come check it out and cry over omgcp.


End file.
